Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise Pg. 1
Liaison and Interviewing Techniques exercise: role playing
Table of Contents
Learning Activity: Liaison and Interviewing Techniques exercise: role playing ................ 2
Confidential Brief for UN Military Observer ...................................................................... 4
Confidential Brief for the Mayor of Kambona Province .................................................... 5
The Gamagara Ceasefire Violation Incident Scenario ..................................................... 6
Map of Naraland .............................................................................................................. 7
Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Check List ............................................................. 8
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Pg. 2 Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise
Learning Activity: Liaison and Interviewing Techniques
Exercise: role playing
In this role-playing exercise with a military scenario, United Nation Military Experts
on Mission in training should put into practice the Liaison and Interviewing
Techniques and tools presented in STM MEoM Sections 3.1 and 3.2
Learning Activity Time Required:
10 minutes
20 minutes
05 minutes
10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
activity introduction and instructions and
reading the scenario
role-playing exercise
debrief in small groups
debrief in the plenary group
Exercise : The Gamagara Ceasefire Violation Incident scenario
The current crisis in Naraland (see attached map), a fictitious island country off the
eastern coast of Southern Africa, has its origins in pre-colonial times. In the 1800s the
Kambo tribe was forced to flee from its ancestral lands by the more powerful Mananca.
The Mananca retained possession of the land now called Manancaland, while the
Kambo eventually settled east of the Mananca, in what is now the province of Kambona.
The Kambo have never abandoned their claims to Manancaland.
During the 1960s, the Kambo launched an unprovoked attack on Manancaland, which
the Mananca successfully halted. The areas held by the belligerent parties at the end of
those hostilities established the current provincial boundaries. Those boundaries have
never been accepted by belligerents, despite efforts by the Naraland Government to
mediate. Since then, repeated minor combats have taken place between the two
provinces and both sides have formed militias that have caches of light weapons and
landmines at their disposal.
In recent times, the Kambona Liberation Movement (KLM) and the Manancaland
Resistance Movement (MRM) have launched several attacks on each other’s provinces.
Despite heavy fighting which has resulted in a large number of casualties, especially
among the civilian population, neither of the belligerents has been able to achieve its
military objectives. The Naraland Government was able to negotiate a ceasefire (the
Treaty of Windhoek) and both parties agreed to international mediation and intervention.
The UN has responded by deploying an observer mission, the United Nations Mission in
Naraland (UNMIN), to monitor the belligerent parties. The Treaty of Windhoek set in
motion the establishment of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) and disarmament of militias.
UNMIN has now been deployed for 8 months and is well established. During the past
month, in particular the last 10 days, various incidents have occurred that indicate an
upsurge in tension among the two parties, including several shooting incidents, reports
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise Pg. 3
of smuggling, unrest and recruitment in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps,
and evidence of freshly laid anti-personnel mines.
As a result, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General has tasked the Chief
Military Observer to instruct all the Sector Commanders to arrange meetings with the
local rebel commanders and people involved in allegations in order to stabilize the
situation and reaffirm their commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire
agreement.
Activity Guidelines:
1.
Use the first few minutes to distribute and allow the participants to read
though the scenario background and instructions.
2.
Divide the participants into three/four groups of equal size:
-
Designate in each group one Mayor of Kambona Province
-
The rest of participants must be organized as MO team with one
Senior UN Military Observer (SUNMO).
3.
Ensure that someone is appointed to observe the process and report back
to the group after the role-playing exercise.
4.
Allow each group to study its own brief and decide on the strategy. Each
group should select one of its members to play the role.
5.
Allow the liaisons and interviews to take place according to the scenario
until 5 minutes before the end of the exercise. The role players are allowed
to call short breaks (of no longer than 1 minute) to revise their strategy or
approach or to consult with one of the other role players. Arrange for a
time-out signal for this purpose.
6.
Stop activities 5 minutes before the end of the exercise. Have each of the
groups evaluate its own performance in terms of liaison efforts and report
back to the class as a whole during the debriefing in the plenary
discussion.
7.
As instructors/facilitators, monitor the progress and content of the
discussions and regularly remind participants of the objective of the
exercise, without interfering unduly.
8.
Participants should, by using effective interviewing techniques and good
liaison skills collect comprehensive information, recognize the HR issues
and identify possible ceasefire violation.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Pg. 4 Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise
Confidential Brief for UN Military Observer
You are the Senior UNMO in Sector East. You have been tasked to liaise and interview
local authorities in your sector to clarify alleged abductions of local people.
You are instructed to meet the mayor of Kambona Province on his site. Notice that the
mayor knows the local warlord very well. They are concern about the escalation of
hatred incident in the province.
During the interview, you should:
-
Conduct a formal liaison
-
Maintain transparency of the UNMIN intentions
-
Organize your team and designate responsibilities.
-
Employ a mixed approach technique to conduct the interview.
-
Try to determine what happened
-
Draw conclusions.
-
Prepare a report on the case.
Your approach is that of an impartial observer with a task of liaison. Your task is to
determine if the allegations are true and prepare a report on the case.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise Pg. 5
Confidential Brief for the Mayor of Kambona Province
You are the Mayor of Kambona Province. You know very well the local warlord since you
have been together at school. You are aware of the abductions from Mananca (3 nights
before) but you do not want to talk about it: it is most probable that abductions was
committed by KLM and you were appointed by province commander of KLM, you have a
low profile on this kind of matter. You wanted to meet the UNMOs to discuss the issues
of ethnic hatred and of missing persons, even though you see UNMIN as an
occupational force on the side of Mananca authorities.
At the liaison visit conducted by UNMOs, you should:
-
Accuse the UNMOs of being partial and of doing nothing to stop the
propaganda against Kambos.
-
Ask UNMOs to prevent ethnic hatred: almost every week there is a new
incident either in his village or in neighbour villages.
-
Urge UNMOs to search for the missing persons from the conflict, you are
convinced that Manancalanders wanted to expel the Kambos.
-
Explain that overnight someone made (for you they were Manancalanders)
drawings on all walls of your office phrases stating that the only place for
Kambos is buried deep in woods. They also tagged many gravestones in
the cemetery. You find these acts odious and condemn them.
-
Explain that from the conflict 10,000 persons are still unaccounted for.
From your village and province, 200 persons are missing. The community
is pressing to find their missing relatives and wants justice. You do not
understand why this is not a priority for the UN and say UN is not fulfilling
its mandate.
You have mixed feelings regarding the abductions from KLM: on one hand you
understand because KLM has to survive, on the other hand these kidnappings deprive
you from healthy men, harm the economy and scare the community. Your people have
started to leave.
Even though you do not like the UN you are pressured from the citizens who want justice
and to find their missing relatives. This is the reason why you have decided to see them.
Also the ethnic hatred has not stopped with the ceasefire, it is ongoing. You do not know
what to do, you have asked the warlord to intervene, but they have other more urgent
and pressing needs.
You are to provide all information and evidence available to you.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Pg. 6 Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise
The Gamagara Ceasefire Violation Incident Scenario
The current crisis in Naraland (see attached map), a fictitious island country off the
eastern coast of Southern Africa, has its origins in pre-colonial times. In the 1800s the
Kambo tribe was forced to flee from its ancestral lands by the more powerful Mananca.
The Mananca retained possession of the land now called Manancaland, while the
Kambo eventually settled east of the Mananca, in what is now the province of Kambona.
The Kambo have never abandoned their claims to Manancaland.
During the 1960s, the Kambo launched an unprovoked attack on Manancaland, which
the Mananca successfully halted. The areas held by the belligerent parties at the end of
those hostilities established the current provincial boundaries. Those boundaries have
never been accepted by belligerents, despite efforts by the Naraland Government to
mediate. Since then, repeated minor combats have taken place between the two
provinces and both sides have formed militias that have caches of light weapons and
landmines at their disposal.
In recent times, the Kambona Liberation Movement (KLM) and the Manancaland
Resistance Movement (MRM) have launched several attacks on each other’s provinces.
Despite heavy fighting which has resulted in a large number of casualties, especially
among the civilian population, neither of the belligerents has been able to achieve its
military objectives. The Naraland Government was able to negotiate a ceasefire (the
Treaty of Windhoek) and both parties agreed to international mediation and intervention.
The UN has responded by deploying an observer mission, the United Nations Mission in
Naraland (UNMIN), to monitor the belligerent parties. The Treaty of Windhoek set in
motion the establishment of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) and disarmament of militias.
UNMIN has now been deployed for 8 months and is well established. During the past
month, in particular the last 10 days, various incidents have occurred that indicate an
upsurge in tension among the two parties, including several shooting incidents, reports
of smuggling, unrest and recruitment in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps,
and evidence of freshly laid anti-personnel mines.
As a result, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General has tasked the Chief
Military Observer to instruct all the Sector Commanders to arrange meetings with the
local rebel commanders in order to stabilize the situation and reaffirm their commitment
to the implementation of ceasefire agreement.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise Pg. 7
Map of Naraland
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Pg. 8 Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise
Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Check List
Liaison within an established framework
A liaison plan has to be developed to coordinate the responsibilities between
different MEoMs and to ensure timely and accurate passage of information
up and down the chain of command.
Assign responsibilities for liaison with specific authorities
Methods of Conducting Liaison
Formal liaison is conducted through visits and meetings arranged in advance
and organized for the specific purpose intended
Informal liaison occurs through visits, social or casual contact. Informal liaison
must be conducted deliberately even when it is spontaneous.
Directive technique of Interviewing.
Frequent participation on the part of the interviewer.
Emphasis on the influence of past actions on present behaviors.
Seeking specific information.
Making interpretations and judgments.
Varying of the pace by the interviewer.
The use of probing questions.
The nondirective technique of Interviewing
Avoidance of “yes” and “no” questions.
Use of questions calling for narrative type of responses.
Emphasis on the present rather than the past.
Frequent use of the silent question.
Reflection of the interviewee’s comments.
Viewing the interviewee from his frame of reference instead of the
interviewer’s.
The mixed approach The mixed or combined approach is one that borrows from all
fields. Interviewers are suggested to use the approach that is suited to the occasion and
the interviewee. It is the responsibility of interviewers to get appropriate information and
critical data, and evaluate them. In order to accomplish this, interviewers must get the
interviewees to talk. Whatever technique enables the interviewer to do this effectively is
a good one.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise Pg. 9
What to do in an interview
Respect for the integrity of each person
Speak in a well-modulated normal tone of voice. It is not only what you say
that is important but how you say it.
Get the interviewee to talk. Interviews are conducted to get information. The
skilled interviewer induces interviewees to talk by varying the type of
questions and employing techniques such as restatement of an answer,
clarification and reflection, interpretation, and short periods of expectant
silences.
Get the facts. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to get reliable
information and get all of it that is needed.
Lead without show of authority. The interviewer will adjust the tempo of the
conversation to the mental alertness and speed of the person being
interviewed
Make sure that the data is correct. Whenever the interviewer gives out
information, what he says is usually interpreted as being an official statement.
Ask only one question at a time.
Formulate easily understood questions.
Restate the answer. In restatement, the interviewer repeats the answer and
says, “Is that right?” If the answer is incorrect or inadequate the interviewee
has opportunity to clarify his meaning and perhaps to give additional pertinent
information.
Record data. Record all pertinent data, promptly, and openly. Thoroughness
in recording information is essential. Complete all necessary recording
immediately after the interview.
Summarize. In most cases before concluding the interview, a brief summary
of what has been accomplished.
Terminate the interview. When it is apparent that the purpose of the interview
has been accomplished, the interviewer should take steps to close the
conversation and dismiss the interviewee in a graceful manner.
What not to do in an interview?
Do not sit on the edge of the chair. This gives an impression that you are
impatient with the interviewee and anxious to be rid of him/her.
Do not fidget. Pronounced and unnecessary body movements, limit the ability
of the interviewee to concentrate on the interview.
Do not waste time. For satisfactory results it is essential that the interview
proceed with dispatch once it is started.
Do not hurry the interviewee. It is unwise to hurry the interviewee. He
requires some time to get accustomed to the situation, to learn to feel at
ease, to get ready to talk.
Do not imply answers to your questions. Experienced interviewers avoid
leading questions.
Avoid or limit use of the pronoun “I”. The “I” pronoun is customarily used to
express an opinion or relate a personal experience.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009
Pg. 10 Section 3.1/3.2 Liaison and Interviewing Techniques Exercise
Do not carry a patronizing attitude. In an effort to be helpful, the interviewer
must maintain a climate of mutual respect.
Do not ask unnecessary personal questions.
Do not antagonize. Accurate information cannot be obtained by antagonizing
the interviewee.
Avoid shrewdness and cleverness.
Do not make a promise to an interviewee. The interviewer should not be
committed to a course of action after the interview is over.
Personal qualities of the interviewer
Personal appearance. The personal appearance and personality of the
interviewer should create a good impression. He should conduct interviews in
a dignified manner with respect for the courtesies which good military bearing
implies.
Freedom from bias. Each mature person, over a period of years collects a
fair quota of likes and dislikes.
Sincere interest in people. Genuine interest in people is a personal quality
which can be developed by associating with people from all levels of social,
economic, and cultural status, and by developing an understanding and
sympathetic appreciation of their interests and problems. By showing an
interest in the respondent, the interview develops an increased capacity for
gaining the respondent’s confidence and assuring his cooperation.
Ability to meet people. He must possess personal dignity, be courteous,
serious, and conscientious. A mastery of these attitudes will enable him to
convey to others the sincerity of his purpose and will gain him wholehearted
cooperation.
UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, Specialized Training Material for Military Experts on Mission 1st Edition
2009